Catalysis by electron Ddnor-acceptor complexes. Their general behaviour and biological roles: By...
1
20 BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION January 1977 Vol. 5 No. 1 Outlines of Biochemistry, 4th Edition E. E. Corm and P. K. Stumpf. Pp. 630. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. London and New York. 1976. Hardback, £10.95, softcover, £5.85. This book has come a long way since the first edition in 1963, although, its main aim remains 'to introduce students to the subject of biochemistry through the theme of intermediary metabolism.' The book is divided into three major sections, ofie on chemistry, one on intermediary metabolism, and a smaller one on informational molecules, and in addition there are appendices on buffers, pH and biochemical techniques. It is admitted that the book is based on the courses taught in the University of California, and it must be seen as a complement to a lecture course. It would not be an easy book to work from without other guidance. There is no introductory chapter on what biochemistry is about and indeed the first 245 pages out of a total of 629 are mostly straightforward chemistry, This may be proper, but one might question whether it will excite the interest of the student keen to get into the meat of biochemistry. In contrast to this, the vast and interesting area of biochemical teeimiques, innovations in which the subject has so much depended upon for its development, is relegated to an appendix. A major irritation to me was the way in which certain biochemical concepts cropped up early on but were not anticipated or explained in an interesting or exciting way. In the section on fatty acid oxidation (p. 356) calculations are done on how many "-" P are generated by the reoxidation of NADH and FADH z, but the process of oxidative phosphorylation is mentioned but not explained at all at that point or previously, and is eventually dealt with on p. 389. A similar lack of explanation at the logical place is on p. 362 on the conversion of fatty acids to ketone bodies. 'Ketone bodies' are mentioned several times but it is only two paragraphs later on that it is explained what they are. Another example of imbalance is on p. 222 where there is a whole page on the biosynthe- sis of thymidine-5'-phosphate. Neither giycolysis nor the TCA cycle nor any of the basic metabolic pathways have even been mentioned up to this point and indeed are not dealt with until after p. 279. In short the information is all here but sometimes it does not connect up very well. This is a pity because the student may fail to grasp such basic concepts as the unity of biochemistry and the beautiful economies in pathways. The student may not, of course, read the book from cover to cover, but may dot about filling in the details. There are ample cross-references to help him do this. Unfortunately in up-dating the manuscript for the fourth edition (presumably) some of these have not been changed correctly. To be fair in many cases the updating has gone well. Chapter 9 on ceil structure is a new addition and is nicely done with good diagrams and electron micrographs. In another section there is much on the recent work with vitamins D and K. The proteins on the other hand haven't done so well. Is it helpful (Chapter 4) to think of a protein as apolymer of amino acids? In this section there is much chemistry, but nothing about the dynamic nature of proteins, and enzymes warrant only two lines here (cross-reference to Chapter 17 should read 'Chapter 7'). On p. 102 'about ten pro- teins have been examined by X-ray diffraction' but by p. 185 'about 15 enzymes' have been studied thus, perhaps half the true number. Who would use fluorodinitrobenzene for the determination of N- terminal amino acids these days (p. 110 problem, and appendix p. 606)? Dansyl chloride/s mentioned: the Appendix refers us back section 4.5.3 (should read 4.6.2) but even here it takes second place to FDNB. The plant biochemist will have to look elsewhere for encourage- ment. For example (p. 52) '... wood. • . is composed primarily of cellulose and another polymer called lignin' (my italics): one looks in vain in the rest of the book for some clue to the structure of lignin. Inulin is found in the bulbs of many plants (p. 51). On p. 417 'only chlorophyll a... undergoes the excitation and subsequent fluore- scence characteristic of the process in which light energy is converted into energy-rich chemical compounds.' If your students are baffled by sedimentation coefficients and Svedberg units, keep them away from this book. For example, on p. 124 we read 'molecular weights in the area (sic) of 25,000 with a corresponding 4.3 S (see Appendix... for definition of S) value.' Go to Appendix (p. 606) and read 'the measurement of the boundary's (sic) movement . . . is the basis of the analytic (sic) method. By the data obtained, namely, the sedimentation rate, the Svedberg unit (S) can be calculated. A Svedberg unit.., is defined as the velocity of the sedimenting molecule per unit of gravitational field or 1 × 10 -13 cm/sec/dyne/g'. It is furthermore unfortunate that about five pages previously, S has been used as the symbol for speed of rotation. My major grouse however is to ask how teachers can discourage students from writing imprecisely and inconsistently when in a beautifully printed (and therefore authoritative?) text-book they can read that 'uric acid is quite insoluble and, as such, is fairly non- toxic.' (p. 477, my italics). On the same page 'NH3 is very toxic' but six lines on it is 'fairly toxic'. Then there is the capricious use of the apostrophe: thus in addition to 'the boundary's movement' mentioned above, it is used in plurals, such as 'RNA's'. Also while the chapter on bioenergetics is on the whole clearly written, sometimes AG values are given with the units calories (p. 331) and sometimes cal/mole (p. 347). Such values furthermore are stated to be AG' rather than AGe' values. A final complaint is that I suspect that the authors have got poor Dr. Ogston working simultaneously in England (p. 173) and Australia (p. 332). Biochemistry is inter- national: is it useful information to the student to know the nationality of a biochemist or where he worked? The use of two-colour printing makes for clarity and the diagrams are in most cases well drawn. However the forumlae take up very large spaces, for example the nucleotide formulae on pp. 496 and 497, and why is the ribose ring about twice the diameter of the pyrimidine ring (p. 199)? In summary, the book is quite nicely done but is fairly imprecise sometimes. On the whole it is clearly written but is more of a reference book to a lecture course than a book that stands on its own. It is well up-to-date (a not inconsiderable achievement) but is marred by errors and idiosyncrasies that ought not to appear in the fourth edition of a book. It has been well used by students in the past, partly because of the relatively modest price in paperback. As regards the hardback, take your choice, you can have the 'Outlines' for £10.95 but you can have the whole of 'Biochemistry' by Lehninger for £9.50. E.J. Wood Catalysis by l~eetmn Donor.Aeeeptor Com- plexes. 13tetr General Schavlour ,tad Roles By Kenzi Tamaru and Masaru Ichikawa. Kodansha Ltd, Tokyo and John Wiley and Sons, London, 1975. Pp. 208. £11.70 or $23.40. This book consists of five chapters; introduction; formation of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes; homollenmus catalysis by EDA complexes; h e ~ cataly~ by EDA complexes; and the role of EDA complexes in biochemical reactions. Apart from the chapter on heterogeneons catalysis which reviews an area in which the authors have themselves worked, the book provides little that is new. In fact some paragraphs are remarkably similar to passages in other monographs on EDA complexes which had been published earlier. There are a number of errors: some trivial, some serious. To quote two examples of the latter: (a) seretonin (a/c) is represented as a quinoline derivative of 2-aminopropmmic uc~d; (b) the description of the mechanism of the formation of the "Melsenheimer Complex" quoted on p.54 had to be moderated through other work which has now been in the literature more than ten years. R. Foster Department of Chemistry University of Dundee Scotland
Transcript of Catalysis by electron Ddnor-acceptor complexes. Their general behaviour and biological roles: By...
20 BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION January 1977 Vol. 5 No. 1
Outlines of Biochemistry, 4th Edition E. E. Corm and P. K. Stumpf. Pp. 630. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. London and New York. 1976. Hardback , £10.95, softcover, £5.85.
This book has come a long way since the first edition in 1963, although, its main aim remains 'to introduce students to the subject of biochemistry through the theme of intermediary metabolism.' The book is divided into three major sections, ofie on chemistry, one on intermediary metabolism, and a smaller one on informational molecules, and in addition there are appendices on buffers, pH and biochemical techniques.
It is admitted that the book is based on the courses taught in the University of California, and it must be seen as a complement to a lecture course. It would not be an easy book to work from without other guidance. There is no introductory chapter on what biochemistry is about and indeed the first 245 pages out of a total of 629 are mostly straightforward chemistry, This may be proper, but one might question whether it will excite the interest of the student keen to get into the meat of biochemistry. In contrast to this, the vast and interesting area of biochemical teeimiques, innovations in which the subject has so much depended upon for its development, is relegated to an appendix. A major irritation to me was the way in which certain biochemical concepts cropped up early on but were not anticipated or explained in an interesting or exciting way. In the section on fatty acid oxidation (p. 356) calculations are done on how many "-" P are generated by the reoxidation of NADH and FADH z, but the process of oxidative phosphorylation is mentioned but not explained at all at that point or previously, and is eventually dealt with on p. 389. A similar lack of explanation at the logical place is on p. 362 on the conversion of fatty acids to ketone bodies. 'Ketone bodies' are mentioned several times but it is only two paragraphs later on that it is explained what they are. Another example of imbalance is on p. 222 where there is a whole page on the biosynthe- sis of thymidine-5'-phosphate. Neither giycolysis nor the TCA cycle nor any of the basic metabolic pathways have even been mentioned up to this point and indeed are not dealt with until after p. 279. In short the information is all here but sometimes it does not connect up very well. This is a pity because the student may fail to grasp such basic concepts as the unity of biochemistry and the beautiful economies in pathways. The student may not, of course, read the book from cover to cover, but may dot about filling in the details. There are ample cross-references to help him do this. Unfortunately in up-dating the manuscript for the fourth edition (presumably) some of these have not been changed correctly.
To be fair in many cases the updating has gone well. Chapter 9 on ceil structure is a new addition and is nicely done with good diagrams and electron micrographs. In another section there is much on the recent work with vitamins D and K. The proteins on the other hand haven't done so well. Is it helpful (Chapter 4) to think of a protein as apolymer of amino acids? In this section there is much chemistry, but nothing about the dynamic nature of proteins, and enzymes warrant only two lines here (cross-reference to Chapter 17 should read 'Chapter 7'). On p. 102 'about ten pro- teins have been examined by X-ray diffraction' but by p. 185 'about 15 enzymes' have been studied thus, perhaps half the true number. Who would use fluorodinitrobenzene for the determination of N- terminal amino acids these days (p. 110 problem, and appendix p. 606)? Dansyl chloride/s mentioned: the Appendix refers us back section 4.5.3 (should read 4.6.2) but even here it takes second place to FDNB.
The plant biochemist will have to look elsewhere for encourage- ment. For example (p. 52) ' . . . wood. • . is composed primarily of cellulose and another polymer called lignin' (my italics): one looks in vain in the rest of the book for some clue to the structure of lignin. Inulin is found in the bulbs of many plants (p. 51). On p. 417 'only chlorophyll a . . . undergoes the excitation and subsequent fluore- scence characteristic of the process in which light energy is converted into energy-rich chemical compounds.'
If your students are baffled by sedimentation coefficients and
Svedberg units, keep them away from this book. For example, on p. 124 we read 'molecular weights in the area (sic) of 25,000 with a corresponding 4.3 S (see A p p e n d i x . . . for definition of S) value.' Go to Appendix (p. 606) and read 'the measurement of the boundary's (sic) movement . . . is the basis of the analytic (sic) method. By the data obtained, namely, the sedimentation rate, the Svedberg unit (S) can be calculated. A Svedberg u n i t . . , is defined as the velocity of the sedimenting molecule per unit of gravitational field or 1 × 10 -13 cm/sec/dyne/g'. It is furthermore unfortunate that about five pages previously, S has been used as the symbol for speed of rotation.
My major grouse however is to ask how teachers can discourage students from writing imprecisely and inconsistently when in a beautifully printed (and therefore authoritative?) text-book they can read that 'uric acid is quite insoluble and, as such, is fairly non- toxic.' (p. 477, my italics). On the same page 'NH3 is very toxic' but six lines on it is 'fairly toxic'. Then there is the capricious use of the apostrophe: thus in addition to 'the boundary's movement' mentioned above, it is used in plurals, such as 'RNA's'. Also while the chapter on bioenergetics is on the whole clearly written, sometimes AG values are given with the units calories (p. 331) and sometimes cal/mole (p. 347). Such values furthermore are stated to be AG' rather than AG e' values. A final complaint is that I suspect that the authors have got poor Dr. Ogston working simultaneously in England (p. 173) and Australia (p. 332). Biochemistry is inter- national: is it useful information to the student to know the nationality of a biochemist or where he worked?
The use of two-colour printing makes for clarity and the diagrams are in most cases well drawn. However the forumlae take up very large spaces, for example the nucleotide formulae on pp. 496 and 497, and why is the ribose ring about twice the diameter of the pyrimidine ring (p. 199)?
In summary, the book is quite nicely done but is fairly imprecise sometimes. On the whole it is clearly written but is more of a reference book to a lecture course than a book that stands on its own. It is well up-to-date (a not inconsiderable achievement) but is marred by errors and idiosyncrasies that ought not to appear in the fourth edition of a book. It has been well used by students in the past, partly because of the relatively modest price in paperback. As regards the hardback, take your choice, you can have the 'Outlines' for £10.95 but you can have the whole of 'Biochemistry' by
Lehninger for £9.50. E.J. Wood
Catalysis by l~eetmn Donor.Aeeeptor Com- plexes. 13tetr General Schavlour ,tad Roles By Kenzi T a m a r u and M a s a r u Ichikawa. Kodansha Ltd, Tokyo and John Wiley and Sons, London, 1975. Pp. 208. £11.70 or $23.40.
This book consists of five chapters; introduction; formation of electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes; homollenmus catalysis by EDA complexes; h e ~ ca ta ly~ by EDA complexes; and the role of EDA complexes in biochemical reactions. Apart from the chapter on heterogeneons catalysis which reviews an area in which the authors have themselves worked, the book provides little that is new. In fact some paragraphs are remarkably similar to passages in other monographs on EDA complexes which had been published earlier.
There are a number of errors: some trivial, some serious. To quote two examples of the latter: (a) seretonin (a/c) is represented as a quinoline derivative of 2-aminopropmmic uc~d; (b) the description of the mechanism of the formation of the "Melsenheimer Complex" quoted on p.54 had to be moderated through other work which has now been in the literature more than ten years.
R. Foster Department of Chemistry University of Dundee Scotland
